TO judge by the selection of DVDs in her front room, Hazel Blears is planning to spend a night in watching a movie called Hellfighters.

The 1968 classic starring John Wayne charts the adventures of a firefighter who spe-cialises in tackling massive blazes in oil fields.

Perhaps the secretary of state for communities can relate to the hero - always first out of the traps when the government’s in trouble, she likes nothing better than a political firefight.

As MPs return from their Christmas break, Blears is preparing for her toughest fight yet - preventing the recession tearing communities apart. There are fears that as the downturn bites, simmering tensions between the white working classes and immigrants on Britain’s estates could boil over.

“It could go either way,” she said darkly. “You either end up as a fragmented society, or you come out of it stronger.”

Central to this mission will be prising a hard core of the long-term unemployed out of their pyjamas and into jobs - if there are any left. The idea is to persuade them there is a better life out there, and prevent resentment of “energetic immigrants” who are in work.

“What worries me is that some people are no longer active participants in their own lives,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of the physical regeneration, estates have changed, and things have improved, but it’s the people bit. I just worry that that sense of ambition that people had . . . it’s not there.”

In Salford, Manchester, where Blears lives, the turn-around since the last recession has been stunning - from 75% youth unemployment in the early 1990s to less than 5% today.

Her worry is that this downturn could kill much of the progress. There are still “small pockets” on such estates, Blears admits, where nobody has a job, or knows anyone who works. “I’ve knocked on the door, and they’re in their pyjamas, and I’ve said to them: ‘Have you thought about going to work?’. And they look at you as if you’re completely mad, because it’s not even on their horizon.”

Blears worries that for these people, the world is “so small, so narrow”. Some teenagers have never ventured more than “eight or 10 streets” beyond home.

It doesn’t help that such people watch motivated immigrants doing well, and - just occasionally - being fast-tracked for social housing. She’s not predicting riots, but believes a “sense of fairness” about entitlements is essential to undermine “myths” about foreigners receiving preferential treatment and maintain “harmony”.

“The evidence is that where resources are scarce, then unless you make positive attempts to bring people together, to get information out, for people to understand entitlement and who gets what, then these myths can grow up and become received wisdom. The far right use it to get divisions between people.”

Blears admits her own government is partially to blame, for failing to persuade the long-term unemployed that it’s worth getting a job. “I think you’ve got to be very clear that there are advantages to work. We’re doing it now, but in some ways, you know, I wish we’d have made a bit more progress earlier.”

Blears says the government must demonstrate to people that taking a job which pays little more than their benefits is about more than just the extra income.

“What we haven’t been good enough at is showing people that this is just a first step to the next thing. Sometimes people just think, well, I’m going off benefit, it’s quite a risky step to take - I’ve got to get my clothes, my bus fare, get myself to work. In a hardheaded calculation, the actual amount extra is not that much. But it’s the foundation for the next step.”

This week, the government will set out its ideas for helping young people from deprived backgrounds join the growing middle classes in the long-awaited white paper on “social mobility”.

According to Blears, realistic role models are a key part of the equation. She was surprised when black youths involved in a government pilot project chose accountants and quantity surveyors - rather than celebrities, foot-ballers and rap stars - as their role models. “Being an accountant, some people think that’s boring, but it means you’ve got a good job, regular, steady income, and can look after your family, and that’s what all these lads wanted.

“People are not stupid - they know that winning X Factor is one in a million.”

She believes it’s vital that teenagers from areas where nobody works start meeting those with more exciting lives. Her own life (her mother was a secretary, her father a factory fitter, and she was brought up in a “two up, two down”) shows anything is possible.

What about her own job? Her Salford seat is relatively safe, so she probably isn’t destined for the dole any time soon. But with Labour struggling in the polls, she will be lucky to be earning a £76,904 ministerial salary in two years’ time. Does she think Gordon Brown should cut his losses, and go to the country sooner rather than later?

“I can’t imagine knocking doors, saying vote for me, keep me in a job, at a time like this. People are worried, and expect their politicians to be working flat out for them, not for themselves,” she said.

And with that, she’s off - the community calls.

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